


Broken Things

by Kumakumakuma



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Love, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-14 21:19:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8029285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kumakumakuma/pseuds/Kumakumakuma
Summary: Nadine Hunter is a psychologist rescued and recruited by the Diamond Dogs. On Mother Base she'll meet the man that changes her future.A little guess into the nature of Kaz Miller and his ex-wife.





	1. Chapter 1

For so long, all Nadine had known was darkness.  
The cloth bag over her head came off once a day for a meager drink of water and a dew spoonfuls of gruel. Just barely enough to break a person down and remold them from what was left. She would lay on the dirt floor with the hood over her head and her hands and feet bound inside the tiny metal cell outside in the middle of nowhere, metal walls that didn't let in any light save for a few slivers that managed to snake their way through the sliding panel on the door. During the day it was boiling hot, and at night it froze. 

When they had first brought her there, Nadine had expected to be tortured, interrogated, maybe worse but days went by and nothing. The days turned into weeks and she eventually lost count. In the beginning she would panic incessantly, kicking and squirming until she had no energy left only to fall asleep face-first on the ground.

Every day at what she could only assume was the same time someone would come in and hoist her to a sitting position, move he hood just above her mouth for her daily rations, then pull it back down and leave. No words, no explanation, nothing. She had been working as a psychologist for child soldiers in Central Africa when her camp was stormed, but now she couldn't even remember how long ago it had been.

When the door to the cell opened for a second time in one day, she was sure it was a sign of her death. To her surprise, Nadine just laid there with her eyes open to the dark cloth that covered her, hoping it would be fast. Instead, she felt her body lifted, and put over a broad shoulder.  
"I got the last of them, I'm ready for evac", a man with a voice like gravel said into the static of a radio. Some response had followed but Nadine couldn't hear. She sighed with joy as she felt the sun and the breeze against her hands and feet for the first time in what felt like months.

The hospital lights burned through her eyelids as she came to, she lifted a hand to her face to block the redness that stung. As she adjusted to the brightness she became aware of other details about her surroundings. She could feel the thin blankets over her, the IV in her hand, the smell of a sterile room. Her vision was hazy at first, everything blurred. Two figures, men, by the looks of it.

"Where am I?" She groaned, barely lucid.  
"You're on the Diamond Dogs Mother Base, can you tell us your name?" One of the men, the taller one, asked.  
"Nadine Hunter" She answered as the shapes around her became more vivid. She was groggy but hydrated, thankfully. Her head didn't hurt, her wrists and ankles weren't chafed, she couldn't remember the last time she felt so good.  
One of the men was taller, blonde hair that was graying slicked pack and cut to the nape of his neck with hard grey eyes. Fashionable, she noted, with his matching scarf and gloves. The other was shorter, and in a word, disheveled. Nadine couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses but she guessed that if she could, that he would look tired. His hair and stubble was unkempt. The taller one stood to her left, the shorter one stood farther from the bed to her right. Feeling more like a specimen and less like a human she stared towards the end of her bed, focusing on a sign about hand-washing over a stainless steel sink across from her. "Can you tell us your birthday?" The shorter one asked. A common memory-checking tactic.  
"February 8th, 1956." She answered almost immediately. The men looked at one another with a mutual nod then back to her.  
"You were found in a military camp with three other prisoners and a dozen child soldiers, what exactly were you imprisoned for?" The tall one questioned, taking a seat beside the bed.  
"I was providing psychological assessment with a small group from a non-profit that aimed at intervening and rehabilitating child soldiers in Africa. I don't know why the camp was attacked or by who." She paused and closed her eyes, coaxing the details from somewhere tucked inside her mind. "They came in the middle of the night and put bags over our heads so I didn't even know where they had taken us." As she spoke it was like she was reliving it again but at the same time she felt outside of herself, like it was her first time hearing about it. It made her uncomfortable. Opening her eyes, Nadine forced herself into a grounding exercise, noting the way a machine began to beep faster as her pulse piqued from the memory. _I'm here, I'm safe. I can feel the blanket, I can hear the machines. I can hear the man beside me breathing. I can smell soap._. She repeated the thought process and listened as the beeping slowed again as she opened her eyes with a sigh.  
"We've been rescuing child soldiers as part of our operations for a few months", the shorter man began. It was then she realized he was missing an arm, and was using a crutch to stand. "Do you think you could continue your work here?" He asked.  
She pushed herself up so she was sitting and looked at the IV as the fluids slowly ran into the vein on the top of her hand. "I don't know....I don't know who you are, what you do. Is this place safe?" Safe. That was her main concern now. She was unsure what the word even meant anymore.  
"It's about as safe as you can get, we're on an offshore facility. Food, shelter, and of course we'll compensate you. We don't have many who are qualified to help these kids and if you specialize in it, you'd be a real asset." The shorter one was trying to sell it hard. The taller man that sat next to her nodded his head steadily in agreement.  
"I guess I could, if the kids need me here then this is where I was meant to be. And I suppose I owe it to you." Nadine conceded. "I'll do my best", she added.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So something I'd like to keep in mind is that I'm purposefully avoiding describing exactly what Nadine looks like in terms of skin colour, hair colour, eye colour. That agency belongs to you, the reader :)

Nadine scratched some notes on the pad of yellow paper in front of her. It was no question as to whether or not her job with the Diamond Dogs would be challenging, day after day she was dealing with children who never had a childhood and were affected by the grotesque violence they had been exposed to early on. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, psychosis and more were abundant, but she took solace in knowing they were safe know with somewhere to sleep, clean water and relatively healthy food. 

The door to the room where she would hold individual sessions slid open and Ocelot stepped inside, she cast him a pointed glance and finished what she was writing before laying her pen and folding her hands on the desk.  
"Good afternoon, Ocelot. How are you?" She asked politely.  
"I'm good. Busy. How are the kids doing?" He asked, sitting across from her and crossing one of his legs over the other.  
"They're doing well, all things considered of course. They're resilient but it will be a lifelong battle for them. All I can do is teach them how to manage everything they've gone through and project it positively rather than negatively, to put it simply." She unfolded her hands and tapped her index finger on the desk, giving Ocelot the hint of a smile. He had a hard face, cold. Even when he smiled, it wasn't in his eyes. Nadine would have loved to pick his brain. "But I feel you probably didn't come here to ask about the progress of the kids."  
He raised his hands and shrugged. "You got me. There's someone else I want you to asses." He leaned forward and put a hand on the desk, locking his cool grey eyes on hers.  
"Who?" She asked.  
"It's Miller. He hasn't handled everything that's happened to him well, and rightfully so. But he can be volatile and could probably use some counselling support." He explained. Nadine was surprised. She didn't know much about what happened to Miller. "I have a file for you to take a look at," Ocelot continued, "if you're willing to take this on."

His tone was friendly enough but Nadine had a sinking feeling that it hadn't been a question. His eyes were still fixed on her. He had a predatory look about him, Nadine had heard he was a ruthless sadist and he had in all honesty, frightened her. With a sigh gave a silent nod.

"Good. Now I'm not sure how often you've been able to talk with Kaz but he's a bit...salty" He finished with a sarcastic smile. "So in terms of your approach, it would probably be best if you make it organic. Don't sit him down across from you and try to analyze him, I doubt he'd tolerate it. Get to know him, be around him, be his friend if he'll let you." He tapped his boot as he spoke, making the spurs fixed to both jingle lightly.  
"That sounds a little unethical, I don't know if I could do this under false pretenses." After speaking she bit the tip of her tongue, suddenly she felt very aware of Ocelot's rank over hers, and her chest prickled with anxiety as a dark smile crossed his lips.  
"I wasn't asking." He clarified. And there it was, out in the open. "I'll get the file sent to your quarter's ASAP." He left as quickly as he came with out so much as a 'goodbye', leaving Nadine sitting in silence at her desk. She didn't like feeling like she was tricking someone, especially someone vulnerable. 

When she had arrived back to her room she had found the file Ocelot had promised her on her bedside table. Feeling suddenly vulnerable she checked under her bed and the corners of the room for some bug, questioning whether or not he had come directly into her room to reinforce that she was merely a vehicle for Miller's examination. She sat on the bed, the springs creaking under her weight as she picked up the folder and opened it. A sheaf of papers paper clipped here, stapled there, a picture of Miller before and after. She examined the first picture closely, looking back from the more recent photo to the first over and over, unable to believe it was the same man. 

His history was varied, Nadine had been shocked by the last ten years in particular. Small wonder he had looked so defeated now, after losing everything he had in a very literal sense. No family to speak of, but a list of military involvement a mile long. It made her life look cushy in comparison. Her mother was a lawyer from San Diego, her father a professor from Toronto. She had been born in Canada but spent time in America here and there growing up. She played tennis and attended a private school. She was on her university's swim team and went to Cyndi Lauper concerts with her friends, their hair teased out and styled like the icon's as they screamed along to "She Bop". A normal upper-crust life. 

She had decided that she would initiate the contact with him the next day somehow. It was her day off from the kids anyway, tomorrow they would be in their classes most of the day before getting some recreational time. Balancing her work with the youth and her assignment from Ocelot would be difficult, but how she would bridge the gap between their distinctly different worlds would be the real challenge.


	3. Chapter 3

"May I join you?"  
Kaz looked up from his breakfast, it was the child psychologist. She looked far too awake for six in the morning, her hair neatly styled, uniform neatly pressed. He grunted an assent and looked back to his plate. Powdered eggs, overcooked bacon and a half-stale piece of buttered toast, not exactly a five-star meal but it was filling. She placed her tray across from him and sat down and cut her egg with the side of her fork.  
"I haven't really had the opportunity to talk to you yet, or to thank you, for that matter. So...I'm Nadine." She reached her hand out to shake his hand, he stared at her before extended his own hand and taking hers with a brief shake.  
"You have nothing to thank me for." He grumbled, hunched over his breakfast.  
"I do though, to my knowledge you're the one who organized the intel for the rescue where I was detained." She meant it, his file read that he was heavily involved with intelligence and support on the base.  
"It wasn't personal." He responded curtly. Nadine wasn't put off by the wall around him, it was typical in her field. It was why she usually spent her free time with the youth, it made them more relaxed and open to her. Even though she hadn't been old enough to be most of their mothers, they came to her for the maternal comfort they had been robbed of.  
"I didn't think it was, I just wanted to spend some time with you. I'd like to talk to you a bit about the children, if you don't mind." She ate her breakfast meticulously, laying a slice of her egg over her toast and a piece of bacon over top so she could taste everything at once. She tried to read his expression, but it was difficult with his glasses. Thankfully, his mouth was expressive, his lip curling at her request.  
"I'll be in R&D until about eight this evening, you can meet me there and we'll figure it out." He answered. Relieved, she took another mouthful of food and a sip of coffee.  
"That would be great, I look forward to it." She smiled. 

She had spent most of the day filing paper work and typing reports, taking short walking breaks when she needed a change of pace. The children had been working on pitching in around the base by doing menial work; they helped in the kitchens, laundry and participated in some janitorial work. It wasn't just for free labour, not they way Nadine saw it anyhow. It was building their life skills so they could hopefully one day function as healthy adults.

She had found her way to the R&D platform easily enough after getting some directions, she had hitched a ride with a few research specialists who were heading in the same direction. The cold wind whipped her cheeks red, it stung but also reinvigorated her. She had tuned out the chatter between the two people in the front, instead staring out towards the water. 

The office Kaz had occupied for himself was within a larger operational room that was filled with whiteboards, notes, photos and other pieces of information that influenced how the research and development progressed on Mother Base. It was late enough that there wasn't anything going on in the particular room, most of the employees likely having left to go to dinner and enjoy their evening. Kaz seemed to work around the clock, it was in Ocelot's personal notes, written so neatly they looked like they could have been typed. Kaz had been caught sleeping at his desk even, it pinged on Nadine's radar immediately that he was working himself so hard for two reasons: he was trying to stay ahead from whatever was still hurting him and he was so obsessed with revenge that he couldn't function on anything else.

Despite his sunglasses, she could tell her had flicked his gaze towards her when she stepped in, notebook clasped to her chest like some nervous student approaching the curmudgeonly prof. She rapped on the door frame with her knuckle anyway and stepped in with a smile. 

"I hope I'm not interrupting" She said, taking a quick scan of the room. It was what could only be referred to as organized chaos. Piles of paper, stacked, but voluminous.  
"I've been waiting anyway, sit." he motioned at the chair across from her.  
"Don't you get hot wearing that coat all the time?" She asked, noting that he was wearing his trench over his jacket, over his shirt.  
"No. I prefer the warmth." As blunt as she expected. Nadine had begun to suspect that it also acted as a way to hide his missing arm. "What is it you want?"  
Not put off by him, she cleared her throat and opened her notebook. "I thought it would be pertinent to report back on some of the progress we've made so far with the children. A few of the older boys are still a concern since they've been conflict-involved longer but the younger ones are adapting well. I've encouraged them to choose new names for themselves as a way of starting from scratch. It's...kind of experimental but I think it will be a push for them to know they're safe now, that the life of combat is behind them." She watched him as she spoke, he was avoiding eye contact, she could feel the minute vibration of him jiggling his one leg beneath the desk.  
"They're safe until they aren't, they can't be our responsibility forever, and we can't stop them from being a part of that life once they aren't here anymore." He grumbled.  
"It's not about holding their hand", she began, choosing her words carefully so she didn't come off as presumptuous. "It's about giving them the knowledge and ability to make the right choice if they're ever faced with it again."  
"Let' hope they never have to." He responded.  
"That's something we can agree on." She conceded. 

Subtly was a skill of hers, but she didn't see it being the route with Kazuhira Miller. He was too on edge, too paranoid. As soon as she tried to approach things covertly he would be suspicious. Closing her notebook, Nadine leaned forward and folded her hands on the table.  
"This is very forward, but it's you I'd like to know more about." Nadine could see his jaw clench so tight that she expected to hear the sound of all his teeth exploding at any moment. She couldn't see his eyes, but guess that even despite his poor eyesight that whatever look he was giving was venomous.  
"You've got a lot of nerve" he growled. "You think yo're going to waltz in her and analyze me? And for what? My life is none of your goddamn business, I ought to have you reprimanded for even asking" he spat, pounding one fist on the table so hard that it made Nadine jump.  
"Not to analyze you, no. But you look like someone who's been through a lot, and I think your resilience is valuable. I just wanted to talk to you about it because it could help with how I understand the children." Keeping calm came with relative ease, she was just thankful he wasn't violent.  
They sat in a tense silence, staring at one another, waiting for the other to say something. She could see the way his heavy breath made his chest rise and fall, the way his lips were just so slightly parted. _'He's easy on the eyes, at least'_ , she thought.

Finally, she was the one who broke the silence. "It doesn't have to be formal. We could walk together, have lunch, meet after we're done our work for the day. It might be relaxing even if we set a time and just...sat outside." She offered meagerly.  
He sighed heavily and scratched at the back of his head. "I have a feeling that even if I say no you aren't going to leave me alone."  
She smiled and looked down, laughing softly. "You know, I think you're right."


	4. Chapter 4

Over their spare time, Nadine and Kaz had been able to meet occasionally over the weeks. He had softened up on her a great deal, she had even coaxed laughter out of him on a few occasions. He had an almost musical sound to the way he would chuckle, it made Nadine feel light and airy to be around him when he was a little closer to being relaxed, though he never was. Not truly. 

Reporting back to Ocelot was discreet and relatively lax; he wasn't looking for her to write out anything formal. He just wanted to know how Kaz was doing. She was honest in the fact that it was slow, but reasoned that the trauma he had faced for almost a decade was a lot to be undone, that it wouldn't happen now, it might not ever happen in a fulsome way. He had told her that she didn't need to carry on with it if she didn't think it was necessary, but it had become more than her probing Kaz to see what was making him tick. She genuinely enjoyed being around him, he fascinated her in a way she couldn't describe. Attributing it mostly to the differences in their lives, she sought his company now more personally than professionally. 

"Hey, I was looking for you!" She jogged up to Miller as he approached the mess for a late dinner. He stopped and turned to her, looking tired as he usually did. "It's been a few days, everything okay?" She asked, slowing her pace to match his. He hobbled along beside her, the tops of their heads meeting at the same height. She guessed he would have been an inch or so taller before the accident but leaned quite a bit since, which she also guessed was hell on his back.  
"Just busy, how're the kids?" He had been pretty open about how he didn't like children, but his words betrayed his feelings. He was deeply emotional, Nadine could tell that much, whether or not he wanted to admit it.  
"There was a fight this afternoon" she sighed heavily as she took two meals for them from the serving line, "but we did a little decompression after and I think it'll be okay for now. Teaching them to use their words can be tough. Even adults wind up getting into it."

She sat beside him instead of across from him now, preferring to rest her head on her hand as she turned to him to talk. In doing so, he seemed to open up a bit more, but he would visibly pull back from her closeness. She couldn't tell if he was shy or just didn't like it, yet she felt compelled to do it anyway. He was older than her, twelve years older and a few months change. That didn't bother her though, not when she thought about it. That is, when she thought about _him_. Not as a colleague, as a person. As someone she wanted to be around, as someone she had found herself interested in. The realization had left her staring at the ceiling in her quarters, embarrassed despite nobody knowing she had come to feel for him, even so far as to want him. She caught herself thinking about what his stubble would feel like if he kissed her, or which side of him would be the one to do it. The rough side, the angry side, or the side that she knew existed and just begged to be loved--to be needed even. Now in the cafeteria, the thoughts crept up on her again. 

"Nadine?" His voice snapped her from her train of thought and suddenly she was very aware that she had been staring, her mouth hanging open mindlessly. She felt like an idiot.  
"I'm sorry, I must be more tired than I thought" she laughed nervously, brushing it off. "Should probably call it an early night..." she trailed. "I'm heading back to my quarters anyway, we can walk together just in case" he suggested, wiping his hands on a napkin and tossing it on the few leftovers that remained on his plate. 

All Nadine could concentrate on was the irregular sound of their steps. She had decided that she wanted to tell Miller how she felt, rip off the band-aid to help her get over it. "Commander Miller, do you have a moment?" She asked as they cut into the corridor where the doors to the quarters were located. 

" _Commander_? That's awfully formal of you" he scoffed, stopping with her. She wrung her hands and hung her head like she was ashamed. Well aware the between his eyesight and the darkness that he probably couldn't see her face, which she was thankful for in the moment. 

"I need to address something, I..." She inhaled deeply through her nose."I have developed some...professionally inappropriate feelings over the course of my time here, and I felt it was important to open up about them." There it was out in the open. She watched his face, his upper lip twitched and she could hear the creak of his leather glove tightening around the handle of his crutch. 

"Tch, Ocelot..." he grumbled, turning his head away from her.  
Nadine squinted her eyes at him and shook her head, her own face contorting in confusion. "Ocelot? No! It's you...I want you, Kazuhira." The sound of his name rolling off her tongue out loud to him was surreal. She had repeated it to herself before, like a schoolgirl writing her crushes name on paper over and over. It was pleasant but wrong, he was her superior, after all.

He didn't look up towards her, but she could hear the sound of his soft breaths. The silence was crushing her, like a pressure on each side of her head; the usual sounds of the waves, seagulls and occasional metal groan from the base had all faded away into nothing. Her cheeks felt hot now, Nadine was embarrassed by her inability to just keep it to herself but that wasn't her nature, she was honest to a fault at times and this was proof. Images of being reprimanded, sent home, maybe even something worse had all started playing out in her head. Surely he was trying to find a way to punish her for the insubordination. 

"We'd have to be discreet" he whispered, turning back to her.  
"What?" Utter disbelief took hold, freezing her on the spot. Her hands trembled with a flurry of emotion. Fear. Excitement.  
"Nobody can know, we need to keep things between you and I. Secondly, my work comes first to me, so don't ever expect me to choose." He kept his voice even but she could tell it was a struggle. "I have to admit that your feelings aren't one-sided." He smiled to himself as he spoke.

She stepped closer to him and brushed her hand down his arm, resting her hand on his and squeezing it. "We can make it work, we'll be careful. I think both of us are focused first and foremost on our work here." She leaned in and brushed his lips with hers, not ready to kiss him full on. He moved his face closer to push the kiss deeper and Nadine let him. They kissed in the dim lights of the corridor, his mouth hard against hers in desperation. She clutched the front of his jacket.

"Commander Miller..." She breathed between the onslaught of kisses he had given, her teeth chattering from the rush of adrenaline.  
"Kaz, Nadine, just call me Kaz." He responded before capturing her mouth with his once more.


	6. Chapter 6

It had rained all day, with bouts of thunder that rolled in the distance and lighting that danced on the water that surrounded the base. Nadine loved the way the rain sounded against the metal, she had fallen asleep nuzzled against Kaz to the music of it hitting the walls and the window peacefully with the smell of his skin adding to the tranquility she felt.

A particularly loud crack of thunder made Kaz shoot up in the bed, waving his arm out in front of him with a shout before grasping at the empty space where his other arm had been. Nadine sat up beside him wildly having been woken up by the commotion.  
"Kaz, Kaz! It's okay, it was just-" _a dream_ she had almost said. But it hadn't been a dream, they were less nightmares and more memories. She couldn't tell him it was just a dream because it had been his reality. "You're safe now, Kaz. You're safe" she offered instead, wrapping an arm over his shoulders, his skin slick with cold sweat. He breathed sharply through his teeth, clutching at his ribs where he would have normally felt his bicep.

 

He fell back, gritting his teeth with a pained groan. "It hurts so bad, Nadine" he choked out. Seeing him in such pain made her want to cry, it made her feel helpless. She stroked his hair and massaged the shoulder of his crippled arm in hope that it would do something to ease him. Slowly but surely he calmed down, his eyes squeezed shut and jaw still clenched tight. A flash of lighting illuminated his profile, making his skin look blue in the darkness. 

"I'm here, Kaz. You're safe here." She looked at the clock and saw it only read one-thirty, they hadn't been asleep for long at all. "Why don't we take a nice, hot shower. It might calm you down and help you fall back asleep." She suggested, twirling sandy blonde locks of his hair in her fingers.  
"That sounds good" He mumbled, opening his eyes partly and laying his hand across his face.

Nadine had hoped making love earlier would have been enough to keep the nightmares away, it was a vain hope but she had held onto it anyway. She had ridden him, spilling praises into his hair as he gripped her thigh hard enough to bruise and bit at her shoulder fervently. He had been so rough, cursing and moaning against her, but he wasn't always like that. Some nights she could tell all he longed for was tenderness, the nights where he wanted to lay on top of her and steady himself with one hand wrapped behind her head, rarely parting their lips until they climaxed. Nadine preferred those nights, but gladly would take whatever Kaz had to offer.

It wasn't uncommon for him to awaken that way, it didn't scare Nadine like it had the first few times but instead it made her hurt for him. Sometimes he would roll over and beg her to make him forget, his jaw clenched as he fought back the hot tears that he refused to let come.  
They had been nude already and as they climbed from the bed she wrapped his arm over her shoulder to carry him, not bothering to put on his prosthetic leg- it would be more effort than it's worth to only cross from the bed to the bathroom.  
Nadine turned on the hot water and let it run until it was steaming but not scalding, helping Kaz into the shower with her. She sighed contently at the feeling of the water beating down against her skin, Kaz groaned as well but whether it was from satisfaction or exhaustion she couldn't tell. 

Taking the soap she lathered his shoulders and back, kneading his tight muscles and placing kisses on him as the suds washed down his body to the drain. He rested his arm against the shower wall to keep himself steady as she washed him, running shampoo through his hair and soap over the front of his body.

"You're too good for me." He mumbled as she turned off the water and dried him off, fingers running back through his hair to get the tangles out.  
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kaz" she responded with a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "You really have no idea how amazing how you are". He watched her with heavy-lidded eyes and she dried herself after she was finished with him, her skin pink from the heat of the water. 

The bed seemed to feel so much softer as they got back into bed, the sheets cool against their warm skin. Nadine stored Kaz's forehead and hair as he closed his eyes with a content sigh, his arm laid across his bare chest, rising and falling softly which each breath he took.

The rain still beat down outside but the thunder was further in the distance, Nadine had guessed the worst of it had mercifully passed. She watched lovingly as Kaz drifted asleep, his lips parting just barely parting. She dipped her head down and ghosted a kiss on his cheek, then nestled in beside him, lacing her fingers between his carefully as not to wake him.


End file.
